Enlarging my baseboard

I finally jumped into printing larger than 8x10 the other night, and I noticed that when I get the enlarger head up high enough to do an 11x14 from my 4x5 neg, my easel is hanging of my baseboard.

I'm assuming that others have tackled this problem, and I'm curious as to some of your solutions. I was thinking that simply finding something rigid that could affectively increase the size of the baseboard would be the solution. Something like glass, or even something thicker like plywood or part of an old door. Any ideas? Thanks.

I have a Beseler 45M and the baseboard that came with it was junk. I made a new one from hardwood plywood that was longer (deeper), with rounded corners. Then I let it into the counter, so that it is flush on the surface with the countertop. It is just one large smooth surface.

I bolted my enlarger to the desk it sits on.
But some white melamine covered plywood 1" or 1.5" thick can be used to make a new baseboard (homedepot-lowes) They'll cut it to the size you want, then ask them if the can put the liner on the sides.

Drill holes in it and replace your old baseboard. You can even buy some "feet" for it.

Around Annapolis, there is an easily accessed supply of marine plywood. This produce is about the most rigid and stable material available. It comes is many finishes - some with different hardwoods on each side. Although more expensive than others, this material will make the only enlarger base you'll ever need or want. A little polyurethane varnish and it'll last through almost anything you can do to damage it. It is easily worked and requires little finishing, even on the saw exposed edges. I would recommend 1" thick mat'l or at least 3/4".

I love the smell of fixer in the morning. It smells like...creativity!
Truly, dr bob.

I have a Besseler VXL Chasis and I took mine off the baseboard and built my own wall mount for it. I overbuilt it for strength. I then built a lower base on wheels that I can level the top to match the enlarger (or move it out of the way when I need some room in that space).

Any chance you can bolt it to the wall in your darkroom... Anything from a simple surface or a complex set of cabinets etc could be made to match afterwards...

The column on my LPL 7700 fouls my 16x20 Beard easel at some sizes. I'm thinking of taking the column off the baseboard and mounting it on a shelf fixed to the table so the easel'll slide under a little.

Enlarger Photo

Here's a photo of my set up. I'm planning on bolting my enlarger directly to the counter one of these days, but it will actaully decease the baseboard size due to the tight quarters I'm working in, so I haven't done it yet.

I do a lot of 8x10 stuff which works great how I have it. It's when I get the head way up high into the joists above that the image hangs off the front of my cabinet there. My guess is that something like rigid plywood could be quickly bolted into place when I was doing this sort of work and then removed to save space. The idea for glass was simply to keep the thickness down so I'm not giving up too much enlargement capability.

Eventually I want to do some even larger work and I'll really have to get creative. I'm thinking about simply flipping the baseboard around and using the swivelling base to rotate the column 180 degrees. Then the image could be onto the floor or possibly onto a stage set on one of the drawers.

By the way, the way I've got it set up right now...the base cabinet is bolted through the left side into the concrete wall very rigidely. The countertop is then bolted onto the top of the cabinet and cantilevered over behind the sink (in the photo) without touching the wall on the right, which is the stairs coming down (vibration).